


Feathers and Wool

by Measured



Category: Rune Factory 3: A Fantasy Harvest Moon
Genre: Children, F/M, Fluff, Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-15
Updated: 2014-08-15
Packaged: 2018-02-13 05:18:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2138454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Measured/pseuds/Measured
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lala's feathers grew in slowly, hints of red and gold hidden under her skin until her fifth birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Feathers and Wool

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ember_Keelty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ember_Keelty/gifts).



> Leaf, Ray and Lala are default names, though I've heard Toto is one as well.

Lala's feathers grew in slowly, hints of red and gold hidden under her skin until her fifth birthday. Every night at bath time, Raven had looked for hints of what her daughter would become. Lala had curly blond hair, and the same clear blue eyes as her father. She was quick, always running or flailing, slipping suds from the bathtub and spilling them across the floor. 

Every night, Raven checked her for scratches, for marks. She did the same to Micah, reassuring herself that nothing had sprung up, no vortex would take away her family and leave her alone.

It was only the day she woke to a small red and gold bird beating itself against the ceiling, helpless with unsteady wings, that she realized who Lala really took after.

Raven reached up, feathers unfurling from her skin. The transformation was white gold light, losing herself and gaining another part of herself. In a second she flew up towards the ceiling where Lala floundering, only a flap away from falling.

They fell together, wings spread out to catch their fall.

"I fwew, mama!" Lala said. She reached out and throw her arms about Raven. Years ago, this would've been the worst thing she could imagine. Her curse being passed on, others knowing what it felt like to be utterly isolated.

But Micah had changed all that. She stroked her daughter's sun gold curls. 

"Tomorrow, we start your flying lessons," she said.

*

"She transformed," Raven said softly into the dark.

Micah turned over to face her. He'd had five new scars from his trip into the Vale river; not even a healing spell could completely erase the marks.

"Our family has really grown, hasn't it?" Micah said. There was such joy in his voice. She didn't even have to turn on the light to tell he was smiling.

He wasn't in the least bit concerned. He'd never given up on her, not even when he had to challenge the very elements to save her.

It was only a matter of time before they'd catch sight of Lala flapping around the town. Children were never good at catching secrets.

 _But they accepted Micah_ , she reminded herself. 

Every year she had to remind herself a little less.

 

*

With Ray, the signs came much more quickly. Shortly before his first birthday, as she lifted him out of the crib, a flash of white and she was holding a little golden lamb.

He hadn't even need a belt to transform. Perhaps he took after her in that. She had never required spells or amulets; the ability was so bone deep inside of her that all it took was a thought to shift.

He looked up at her and bleated. He began to squirm, but she held on tight.

"No wriggling away," she said. She patted his golden fluffy head. He was much softer than the usual Wooly, more like a thick downy blanket than the roughness of wool.

"I can't teach you about this...but your father can."

When Micah came in for lunch, with new scars and a new vegetables to ship, she handed him over.

"Wow, Ray! You've gotten so big," Micah said. He laughed as he held Ray close to his chest.

"My turn, daddy!" Lala said. 

Leaf clung to his leg.

"Hey, you'll all knock me over like—"

Micah crashed down, as they all fell down together. 

"Why don't you fall down with me?" Micah said.

She laid out on the floor. Micah wouldn't let her keep her distance. He pulled her closer, until they were all held tight together.

 _This is what a family feels like,_ she reminded herself. With every smile, every kiss, and touch, she added another reminder. Another reason for her happiness.

*

It hadn't been her intention to bring Lala with her, but Lala was at that precocious age, and often escaped whoever was watching her to follow after Raven and visit her at work.

Her last customer had come for the day, though Gaius had barely noticed. He never paid attention to things like bills piling up or actually selling all the weapons he made. The strike of his hammer on the iron filled the room. It was only when he stopped, when she heard the gasp, that she turned and saw Lala reaching out. Lala had grasped the sword before she could catch her. Raven rushed near, nearly tripping over the weapons at the side of the desk. She grasped Lala's hands and checked them over for gashes, only to find not a single cut, and not even a burn.

"She's really got an affinity, there. She touched a blade and it was about as hot as if I'd put it in the forge. 

He held out the blade he'd been working, which had little red marks of magic deep inside it, like vessels.

"I hadn't even forged it with a fire core," he said. "You've got a real talent. Do you want to be my apprentice when I'm older?" Gaius said.

Lala nodded her head. Her eyes were wide as she drew near to the forge. 

"Hey, now, not _that_ close," Gaius said. He set the sword aside and lifted her up as if she weighted nothing more than a downy piece of dandelion fluff.

"I'm sure your mother will teach you how to make accessories when you're older," he said. 

"But I wanna help, uncle Gaius," Lala said.

"Well, you can do both," Gaius said.

She looked in wonder at the sword her daughter had helped along. Even now, Lala's hands glowed from the heat.

Fire could not burn a phoenix. Douse them in flames, and they would only grow stronger. 

*

"Now, come on. You can do it!"

The field was caught in eternal spring. Flowers bloomed under Shara's care until they were always at peak point. Like a memory caught in place, they lingered on, never moving on to old age and withered stalks. 

Micah turned to his other form in seconds of white gold. Ray followed, a smaller, downier version of his father. His little lamb steps abruptly stopped as fell on his face. Micah reached out to break his fall, and then pulled Ray close to his chest.

Leaf was balanced on her hip.

"Can we have more fwying lessons?"

"As soon as I put your brother down for a nap," she said.

Leaf yawned. She shifted him into her arms.

Leaf remained a secret. No hint of feathers or wool. She wondered if he would be the one to follow, or if he would be the one who remained untransformed, stuck in human form with no secrets to hide. In the sunlight, she thought she saw a hint of gold to his skin. She couldn't tell if it was feathers or wool.

Only time would tell.


End file.
